When I heard that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled President Obama had violated the Constitution for making recess appointments to the NLRB while the Senate was still in session the first thing that came to mind was Richard Cordray.

The same day Obama made the NLRB appointments he also appointed Cordray to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Board. Senate Republicans had filibustered Cordray’s appointment in 2011.

There is a separate lawsuit before the courts challenging the constitutionality of Obama’s appointment of Cordray. 

No doubt the Obama Administration was anticipating this ruling. It was only yesterday that Obama appointed Cordray on a permanent basis. I suspect Senate Democrats will be eager to have Cordray confirmed as soon as possible. Cordray’s recess appointment ends on December 31, 2013. If Senate Democrats can confirm Cordray before the end of the year then the lawsuit is probably moot (although one can certainly challenge the legitimacy of the decisions made by Cordray from the time his “recess” appointment took effect).

In any case, it is incumbent upon Senate Republicans to once again filibuster Cordray’s appointment. If they can’t do that then they ought to go out of business.